Benzaiten
Benzaiten (弁財天 Benzaiten,) sometimes referred to as Benten (弁天 Benten,) is a Marine subordinate under Commander Chance within the Lucky Streak Division. As a member of Marine branch #777, Benzaiten is entrusted to protect and defend the World Government aligned island and ship, Lucky 7, from outside threats, such as pirates. During the Hanuman Arc of One Dream, Benzaiten became an antagonist as she and her fellow Marines fought against the invading Jolly Pirates and rampaging Hanuman. Appearance Tell us what your character looks like! Clothes, height, skinny or fat, carry weapons at all? Benzaiten - Intense.jpg|Benzaiten's attitude intensifies during the Hanuman Arc Personality How does your character behave and their morals Abilities and Powers Bojutsu Benzaiten is a gifted practitioner of bojutsu (the Japanese martial art of staff fighting.) In her case, Benzaiten has expert skill in the form of bojutsu known as Niboryu (literally: two staff style,) which makes good use of wielding two staffs in battle at once. With Niboryu, Benzaiten sets herself apart from standard bojutsu fighters by using her staffs in both orthodox and unconventional ways. She has shown herself to be clearly capable of standing up to other weapon wielders, up to including even powerful swordsmen. While she can masterfully swing her staffs with precision, grace and dexterity to inflict severe blunt trauma onto others, she has also been seen using her staffs to greatly increase her agility and attack range, as well as perform flying shock waves to bludgeon foes from afar. When shot at by Wyatt, Benzaiten swiftly twirled her staff like a baton to deflect the bullet away from her. While not a hand to hand fighter by preference, Benzaiten has incorporated melee strikes into her use of Niboryu; often by vaulting herself forward with the tip of her staff and landing a decisive flying kick against a distant opponent. And while she has also just as often used elbow strikes and punches, it seems Benzaiten is more inclined to combine her Niboryu with a kicking oriented fighting style; making her very agile and graceful in battle. Most striking is Benzaiten's ability to fight off a powerful opponent like Hanuman. When engaging in a staff battle with him, Benzaiten was bold enough to state her Niboryu put her at a distinct advantage over the bigfoot, who used the single staff variant, Ibboryu. While it was thanks to a combination of her wits and set of weaponry which helped to fend Hanuman off, she at least managed to keep up with Hanuman's frenzied staff wielding on her own. Weapons To fight against threats that may endanger Lucky 7, and in order to keep up with her fellow division comrades, Benzaiten makes use of a few reliable pieces of weaponry. The first include a pair of billiards cues which she uses for her Niboryu fighting style. A skilled pool player and expert in the ways of Niboryu, Benzaiten's cues are considered to be nothing short of lethal weapons when in her hands. While at first glance, they appear to be standard, simple cues made of wood, they are apparently metallic, and can withstand a great deal of stress and punishment in battle. Benzaiten's pool cues are her main form of self-defense, as she hardly ever goes into a fight without them. The other set of weapons Benzaiten equips herself with are her collection of billiard balls. Physically larger than standard billiard balls, as they're roughly the size of baseballs, Benzaiten has a tendency to launch them from a distance to harm or trap her opponents. Thanks to her masterful skills in playing pool, Benzaiten can shoot her balls with the same level of expertise as a marksman firing a gun. Most of the time, Benzaiten will toss a ball into the air and position her pool cue to strike the ball as if she's playing billiards (with her cue placed between her fingers, like in standard games of pool.) Other times, she may be prone to swinging her cue like a baseball bat or inventing new methods of shooting her billiards balls. The balls themselves are incredibly varied in what they do upon impact. Some are straightforward and obvious; such as striking foes hard with rigid, painful blunt force. Others are specialized and will be used when the time calls for it. These specialized billiards balls contain numerous surprises within them and can be almost impossible to predict until the surface ruptures on impact. However, as each of Benzaiten's fighting techniques involves a specific number (as depicted on whatever ball Benzaiten launches,) it's clear the effects are not entirely random, and will be tailor made to whatever number Benzaiten labels them under. This can make it easier to foresee which ball does what, and then properly counter Benzaiten's strategies. Even with that however, Benaiten's pool skills can allow her to strike from unexpected angles and still take foes by surprise. The contents of Benzaiten's pool balls seem to include things such as explosives, adhesives, smokescreens and oil slicks, among many other things. Relationships Lucky Streak Division Chance Family Allies Enemies Other History Tell us what happened to your character? Character Design So how did you come up with your character? Inspiration? Creativity? How did you develop even further? Major Battles Who your character fought against Ex. Character vs that guy (Won, Lost, Interrupted, Escaped, Killed) Quotes Your character's phases (funny, inspirational, serious, etc) Trivia *Benzaiten's name was inspired by the name of the Japanese Shinto goddess, Benzaiten. Benzaiten is among one of the Seven Lucky Gods; with Benzaiten representing knowledge, beauty, art and music (especially music.) This was chosen to emphasize Benzaiten's duty as a member of Lucky 7's Lucky Streak Division. **This is also apparent in Benzaiten's nickname, "Benten." Benten was an alias which Shinto followers of Benzaiten would refer to the goddess herself as (in this case, she was called Benten-sama.) External Links Benzaiten - Wikipedia article about the goddess which inspired Benzaiten's name Marine - One Piece Wiki article about the Marines; Benzaiten's occupation Lieutenant Commander - One Piece Wiki article about Marine Lieutenant Commanders; Benzaiten's position within the Marines Site Navigation Category:Human Category:Female Category:Marine Category:Antagonists Category:Weapon Wielder Category:Weapon Specialist Category:Polearm Wielder Category:Wyvern 0m3g4 Category:One Dream